Thursday, December 15, 2011

SHAMROCK ROVERS LOSE 4-0 TO SPURS

Michael O'Neill's successful tenure as boss of Shamrock Rovers manager came to an end this evening with a 4-0 defeat by high-flying Tottenham Hotspurs at a packed Tallaght Stadium in Dublin.

Rovers started brightly but first-half goals by Steven Pienaar, André Townsend and Jermain Defoe put the game to bed early on.Shamrock Rovers were by no means outclassed and very much made a game of it but Spurs superior finishing was the difference in the half.

Rovers came out in the second half and gave it a good go, competing for every ball and having a few shots on goal themselves.Steven O'Donnell shot just wide on 63 mins while Gary O'Sullivan had a good shot saved by Carlo Cudicini on 87 mins.

However, Tottenham had the final say with a goal by sub Harry Kane on full-time.

Despite the victory Harry Rednapp's team are out of the Europa League, I don't think he is too disappointed as the Premier League is his stated priority.

It is a shame that the Shamrock Rover's hierarchy have allowed Michael O'Neill to leave the club.It is believed that the manager wanted the funds recieved from qualifying for the Europa League, €1 million, to be invested in new players.It seems that the Rover's board were unwilling to acceed to his demands and he has now left the club having created history.The vacant manager's job at Northern Ireland is now down to three people with O'Neill's name believed to be one of them.O'Neill has said tonight that he: "would be honoured", to take the Northern Ireland jobThanks Michael for all the success you delievered to Shamrock Rovers in such a short time.